Gabriel Garza (film)
Gabriel Garza is a 2011 American 3D computer-animated comedy film produced by Gingo Animation for Universal Pictures. Based on Geo G.'s animated television series of the same name, it is Gingo's reboot of the Gabriel Garza series. The film was directed by the series' creator Geo, from a screenplay by J. David Stem and David N. Weiss and a story by Geo, Audel LaRoque, and Michael Wildshill. It features the voices of Zachary Gordon, Elijah Wood, Ashton Kutcher, Josh Gad, Jason Lee, Jenny Slate, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Jack McBrayer. In the film, Gabriel, Roge, Leno and Cole discover a threat from the mysterious Wacky Bandit, and team up together to stop them. Gabriel Garza premiered on June 18, 2011, at the Toronto International Film Festival, and was released in the United States on July 5, 2011. It received generally positive reviews from fans and critics, who praised its story, humor, and animation. However, some fans were disappointed by the absence of other classic characters in the original Gabriel Garza series, such as Claire Jones and Jan Soto (although they were briefly mentioned in the film). The film earned a total of $645 million against a budget of $80 million at the worldwide box office. A sequel titled Gabriel Garza 2 was released on July 2, 2014, and a third film titled Gabriel Garza 3 was released on July 19, 2017. Plot Gabriel Garza is an 11-year-old boy who lives an ordinary life with his brothers Roge, Leno, and Cole and knows his intelligence to his friends for years. One night, Gabriel and his gang start hanging out together and have fun in his room. They become "drunk" from partying around, and they fall asleep in Gabriel's room, experiencing hangover-like symptoms the morning afterwards. The next morning, Gabriel wakes up and his mother Christine tells him that he should have slept a little earlier. At school, Gabriel tries to stay focused, but initially to no avail. More coming soon! Cast :Further information: List of Gabriel Garza characters *Zachary Gordon as Gabriel Garza, a kind, curious, intelligent 11-year-old boy *Elijah Wood as Roge Garza, Gabriel's overprotective brother *Ashton Kutcher as Leno Garza, one of Gabriel's brothers *Josh Gad as Cole Garza, Gabriel's younger brother *Jason Lee as Loy Garza, Gabriel's oldest brother and scientist and inventor *Jenny Slate as Blues, Gabriel's best-friend-turned-arch-nemesis and the boss and leader of the Wacky Bandit *Sarah Jessica Parker as Christine Garza, Gabriel's mother *Jack McBrayer as Marvin Garza, Gabriel's father and Christine's divorced husband *Hayden Panettiere as Desiree Garza, Gabriel's older sister *Alex Borstein as Pat, Gabriel's neighbor *Chloë Grace Moretz as Tam Williams, an irritating student whom Gabriel trying to avoid *Ariel Winter as Gaby, Gabriel's cousin *Ava Acres as Bella, Gaby's younger sister *Geo G. as elves Jim, Tom, Dan, Jerry, Jack, Sam, Jeff and Max *Audel LaRoque as elves Gary, Ben, Peter and Ted *Michael Wildshill as elves John and Cody *Kari Wahlgren as Mrs. Picksit, Gabriel's teacher *Phil LaMarr and Jason Marsden as the two bike kids who make fun of Gabriel *Fred Tatasciore as a middle-aged father *Kath Soucie as a son *John DiMaggio as a TV announcer *Dee Bradley Baker, Michael Gough, Corey Burton and Wally Wingert as Blues' all four minions Clef, Nob, Mikey and Joe Additionally, several other characters (such as Claire Jones, Jan Soto, and Vio) are only seen in flashbacks or briefly mentioned. Additional voices *Jack Angel *Lisa Bradley *Susanne Blakeslee *Greg Berg *Bill Farmer *Clancy Brown *Gregory Perler *Charlie Bright *Debi Derryberry *Hynden Walch *Jeff Bennett *Anndi McAfee *Melissa Disney *André Sogliuzzo Production In 2003, Gingo CEO and Gabriel Garza creator Geo G. regarding the future of the Gabriel series on an interview in August 2004, he said, "I don't have anything official to announce, but I can speak as an individual, I love Gabriel Garza, and I love those other guys I created. And I would love to find a way to bring him back, if we could." Michael Wildshill, president of Gingo, has said that he would love to see a revival of the original Gabriel television series, or even a full blown reboot. Debi Derryberry, the original voice of Gabriel Garza, said she is hopeful that Gingo will "bring Gabriel back to their glory days and that the character is still very dear to fans between 18–49 years". In May 2006, Gingo revealed through an IGN interview the possibility that they may revive both series of Gabriel Garza as well as Hatty. In September 2006, however, Wildshill stated in an interview with Ain't It Cool News that Gingo does not miss working on either series and has no intention of bringing them back to life. Despite this, Terry Ward stated that the studio would love to return to Gabriel Garza but doesn't see it as viable. Geo G., Audel LaRoque, Michael Wildshill, and Steve Samono visited the house where Geo first pitched Gabriel Garza, and came up with the story for the film over a weekend in 2006; LaRoque then wrote a treatment. A computer-animated film based on Gabriel Garza, under the working title Life of Gabriel Garza, was confirmed by Universal Pictures and Gingo Animation on February 1, 2008. Geo G. was announced as director, and M.I.S.S.I.O.N. writers J. David Stem and David N. Weiss were announced to write the film's script. Eventually, DreamWorks Animation's Teresa Cheng was pitched in to assist with the production. The film's original release date on December 3, 2010 was also announced. Geo, who had been working with the writers and story development artists on the film since mid 2007, said he felt pressure to avoid creating "the first dud" for Gingo. In the summer of 2008, there were claims that the film was going to be a reboot. In October 2008, IGN reported the title of the film would be simply Gabriel, while ComingSoon.net reported it would be Gabriel Garza the following December. On February 23, 2009, Universal officially confirmed that the film would be indeed a reboot and was retitled simply as Gabriel Garza. It was also announced that the original voice cast—Debi Derryberry, Rob Paulsen, E.G. Daily, Kath Soucie, Billy West, Doug Lawrence, Charlie Adler, Jim Cummings, Jeff Bennett, Danny Mann, and Frank Welker—from the Gabriel Garza series will be entirely replaced by better-known actors due to the hopes of attracting a larger audience, akin to what Gingo did to the voice cast of BJ and Wally (2006), in which Geo G. directed. In September 2009, Gabriel Garza was pushed back from December 3, 2010 to July 5, 2011 (the scheduled release date for Gingo's Plucky Chicken). According to Michael Wildshill, the primary reason for the rescheduling was "the story was not working, period, full stop, it just was not where it needed to be." In November 2009, Zachary Gordon, known for his role in Diary of a Wimpy Kid, was announced to play the voice of the main protagonist Gabriel Garza, taking the place of Gabriel's original voice actress Debi Derryberry (who voiced a minor role via additional voices in the film instead); in addition to Gordon, Elijah Wood, Ashton Kutcher, Josh Gad, Jason Lee, Jenny Slate, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jack McBrayer, Hayden Panettiere, Chloë Grace Moretz and Alex Borstein have also joined the cast. Erica Rivinoja did an uncredited rewrite of the script. Release Gabriel Garza premiered on June 18, 2011, at the Toronto International Film Festival, and was theatrically released into theaters on July 5, 2011 in the United States and Canada. Marketing The film's first teaser trailer was released with Computeropolis 3 on March 5, 2010. The first full-length trailer was attached as an exclusive sneak peek and a first footage on November 3, 2010. A second teaser was released on March 2, 2011, followed by a second full-length trailer on March 3, and was attached to films such as Rango, Mars Needs Moms, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules, Hop, Rio, and Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil. Several merchandise were made for Gabriel Garza, such as toys and figurines. Universal teamed up with several major companies to promote the film, including McDonald's, who included 8 toys in their Happy Meals featuring the main characters, and Airheads, who made limited-edition flavors "The Elf Flavor" and "Gabriel's Strawberry Taste". A contest, which ended in early May 2011, allowed fans to submit ideas for flash animations to promote the release of the film. The winning idle idea "Gabriel's Catch" was unveiled on June 4, 2011. Home media Gabriel Garza was released in the United States and Canada on DVD and Blu-ray on December 6, 2011 by Universal Studios Home Entertainment, with a standalone single-disc DVD release being released on that same day. The release includes a new short film, titled Game Boys. The film was re-issued on Blu-ray on June 17, 2014 by Universal. It includes a movie ticket to its sequel Gabriel Garza 2. It was re-issued again on Blu-ray on June 20, 2017. Video game A video game based on the film was published by THQ and released on June 22, 2011, for the Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 3, and the Xbox 360. Soundtrack Reception Critical reception Gabriel Garza has received positive reviews from critics. Based on 87 reviews, the film holds a 94% "Certified Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with the consensus stating "With a blast of laughable humor, excellent storyline, and dazzling animation, Gabriel Garza is a fun masterpiece for the whole family and lives up with other Gingo classics as well as the original Gabriel Garza series." On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film has an average score of 62 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Box office The film grossed $68,368,836 on its opening weekend, being released in 4,200 theaters, leaving it #2 during the weekend behind Winnie the Pooh and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2. The film grossed $261,754,077 in North America and $184,942,573 in other countries, with a total gross of $645,300,952 worldwide, making it the seventh highest-grossing film of 2011. The film is currently the sixth highest-grossing Gingo feature in the U.S. behind Gabriel Garza 2, Imagimals, Gabriel Garza 3, The Planetokio Movie, and Computeropolis. Accolades Coming soon! Sequels :Main articles: Gabriel Garza 2 and Gabriel Garza 3 A sequel, titled Gabriel Garza 2, was released on July 2, 2014. It was directed again by Geo G., written by Geo, Erica Rivinoja, Brian Lynch, J. David Stem and David N. Weiss, and produced by Teresa Cheng and John Cohen. Zachary Gordon, Elijah Wood, Ashton Kutcher, Josh Gad, and Jason Lee reprised their roles as Gabriel, Roge, Leno, Cole and Loy, respectively. New cast members include Isla Fisher as Lily Stampla, Jake T. Austin as Lester Stampla, Rob Corddry as Mr. Leek and Jonathan Morgan Heit as Jan Soto. In September 2014, Gingo announced a planned third film, titled Gabriel Garza 3, to follow Gabriel Garza 2, with a release date set for July 19, 2017. Other media Media In August 2012, a manga version of Gabriel Garza was made by Hiromi Yamafuji and distributed in Kodansha's Monthly Shōnen Rival magazine in Japan; the manga was published in English by Tokyopop. Television specials Coming soon! Television series Transcripts Main To see the main transcript of the film, click here. Trailers To see the transcript for the trailers of the film, click here. References Category:Films Category:Films directed by Geo G. Category:2010s Category:2011 Category:Gabriel Garza Category:Gabriel Garza (2011)